EPA official says mold at HISD school cause for concernElected leaders take a tour of Key Middle School

By Ericka Mellon |
September 18, 2007

Key Middle School principal Mable Caleb, center, and U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Houston, tour the campus on Monday with other officials. In recent weeks, several employees and students at the school have reported ailments.

A director with the Environmental Protection Agency said he saw some "potentially problematic" moldy areas at Key Middle School during a brief tour Monday.

"There's some areas that look suspicious, and a qualified professional, a mold expert, should look at them," said David Neleigh, who runs the federal agency's environmental lab in Houston.

At the request of U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, officials with the EPA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said they will meet with school officials and review whether more tests are needed at the northeast Houston campus — where several employees and students have reported ailments over the last three weeks.

Houston Independent School District officials repeated assertions Monday that numerous air-quality tests show the 50-year-old school is safe. And despite Jackson Lee's request, Superintendent Abelardo Saavedra does not plan to relocate the staff and 600 or so students at Key, said district spokeswoman Rebecca Suarez.

Wearing masks

At the beginning of the tour, Jackson Lee placed a hospital mask over her mouth and handed out masks to others.

"I'm not being dramatic," the Houston Democrat said. "I just can't afford to be sick. ... I think it's important to err on the side of cautiousness."

The school's principal, Mable Caleb, has been wearing a special filtered mask for days. Her face has been swelling up, and her doctor suspects she is having an allergic reaction to something, she said.

The tour included a stop in a counselor's office, where a bulletin board showed several spots of what appeared to be mold. Demetrius Scott, the counselor, had placed an air filter near his desk.

"Yeah, I'm very concerned about my health, but we still have a job to do," he said.

Robert Robertson, HISD's general manager of facilities, said the bulletin board would be removed later that afternoon.

"It was discovered on Friday and should have been gone," he said.

No serious problems found

A private consulting company hired by HISD has found no serious air problems after collecting 47 air samples since early September and inspecting almost every space at the school on Friday. The Woodlands-based company, ICU Environmental, Health & Safety, has done work for other school districts, plus major oil companies and the federal government.

But since late August, at least nine teachers from Key have been taken in ambulances to hospitals and seven janitors have gone to the hospital. Most have reported difficulty breathing and watery eyes, while others have experienced skin rashes, headaches and nausea.

A growing number of parents also have raised concerns that something at Key is making their children sick.

After about 30 minutes at Key, Jackson Lee said she wasn't feeling well. State Rep. Harold Dutton concurred after walking into a computer room.

"I walked into this building, and my sinuses immediately did something," said Dutton, a Houston Democrat. "I don't know what it was."